[KCDXC] [VHF] Solar flare eruptions set to reach Earth

[Jeff Blaine]

Implications for this weekend's ARRL DX contest?

73/jeff/ac0c



-----Original Message-----
From: kcdxc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:kcdxc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Russ K2TXB
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 3:43 PM
To: W0WOI at aol.com; tcdxa-list at tcdxa.org; kcdxc at mailman.qth.net; vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu
Subject: Re: [KCDXC] [VHF] Solar flare eruptions set to reach Earth

WOW! That's really incredible! Thanks Bill

73, Russ K2TXB 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu
> [mailto:owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu] On Behalf Of W0WOI at aol.com
> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 11:36 AM
> To: tcdxa-list at tcdxa.org; kcdxc at mailman.qth.net; vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu
> Subject: [VHF] Solar flare eruptions set to reach Earth
> 
> 17  February 2011 Last  updated at 08:07 ET Solar flare eruptions set 
> to reach Earth By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News
>  
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> Click to play
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> Click to play_
> (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12493980#play)
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> Time lapse image of the solar  flare as seen by Nasa's Solar Dynamics 
> Observatory
> 
> 
>  
> Related Stories
>     *   _Aurora Borealis to light up sky_ 
> (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12493448)  
>     *   _Sun unleashes huge solar flare_ 
> (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12485104)  
>     *   _Satellites sit either side of  Sun_ 
> (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12365083) 
> 
> Scientists around the world will be  watching closely as 
> three eruptions 
> from the Sun reach the Earth over Thursday  and Friday.  
> These "coronal mass ejections" will slam into the Earth's 
> magnetic  shield. 
> The waves of charged solar particles are the result of three 
> solar flares  
> directed at Earth in recent days, including the most powerful 
> since 2006. 
> The biggest flares can disrupt technology, including power grids,  
> communications systems and satellites. 
> The northern lights (Aurora Borealis) may also be visible 
> further south 
> than  is normally the case - including from northern parts of the UK. 
> "Our current view is that the effect of the solar flare is 
> likely to reach  
> Earth later today (Thursday GMT), possibly tomorrow morning," 
> said Alan 
> Thomson,  head of geomagnetism at the British Geological 
> Survey (BGS). 
> He told BBC News: "In the scientific community, there's a 
> feeling that it's 
>  not as intense as we first thought it might be. But it's 
> possible still 
> that it  could be a large enough event for us to see the 
> northern lights in 
> the UK." 
> However, weather forecasts suggested cloudy conditions could 
> mar views of 
> any  aurorae.Technological impact  
> The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration 
> (Noaa) said 
> that  three coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were en route as 
> the result of solar 
> flares  on the 13, 14 and 15 February (GMT). 
> "The last of the three seems to be the fastest and may catch 
> both of the  
> forerunners about mid-to-late day tomorrow, February 17," 
> read a statement 
> from  Noaa's Space Weather Prediction Center. 
> The northern lights could be  seen further south than is normal 
> The flare recorded at 0156 GMT on 15 February was the 
> strongest such event 
> in  four years, according to the US space agency (Nasa), 
> which has been 
> monitoring  activity on the Sun. The event was classified as 
> a so-called 
> X-flare, the most  intense type. 
> The source of all three events, sunspot 1158, has expanded rapidly in 
> recent  days. 
> Solar flares are caused by the sudden release of magnetic 
> energy stored in  
> the Sun's atmosphere. 
> Their effects can interfere with modern technology on Earth, such as  
> electrical power grids, communications systems and satellites 
> - including  
> satellite navigation (or sat-nav) signals. 
> Although scientists are expecting most geomagnetic activity 
> to occur on  
> Thursday, Chinese state media has already reported some disruption to 
> shortwave  radio communications in the south of the country. 
> Awakening Sun  
> In 1972, a geomagnetic storm provoked by a solar flare knocked out  
> long-distance telephone communication across the US state of 
> Illinois. And in  
> 1989, another storm plunged six million people into darkness 
> across the Canadian 
>  province of Quebec. 
> Dr Thomson said it was possible infrastructure could be 
> affected this time, 
>  but stressed: "The X-flare that was observed the other day 
> was lower in  
> magnitude than similar flares that have been associated with 
> technological  
> damage such as the loss of the Quebec power grid... and even 
> the large 
> magnetic  storm in 2003, which caused some damage to 
> satellites in orbit." 
> Scientists will have around half an hour's notice that the 
> wave of charged  
> particles is about to hit the Earth's magnetic shield.  
> This is taken from the point at which a Nasa satellite called 
> Ace (the  
> Advanced Composition Explorer) registers the solar radiation on its 
> instruments:  "We're sitting waiting for that event to 
> happen," said Dr Thomson. 
> Researchers say the Sun has been awakening after a period of 
> several years 
> of  low activity.
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--
Its not how many watts you have,
its the SIZE of your watts that matter! -- Johnny Marshall, W0JM-SK
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